Fast identification and susceptibility determination of E. coli isolated directly from patients' urine using infrared-spectroscopy and machine learning.

ABSTRACT

For effective treatment, it is crucial to identify the infecting bacterium at the species level and to determine its antimicrobial susceptibility. This is especially true now, when numerous bacteria have developed multidrug resistance to most commonly used antibiotics. Currently used methods need âˆ¼ 48 h to identify a bacterium and determine its susceptibility to specific antibiotics. This study reports the potential of using infrared spectroscopy with machine learning algorithms to identify E. coli isolated directly from patients' urine while simultaneously determining its susceptibility to antibiotics within âˆ¼ 40 min after receiving the patient's urine sample. For this goal, 1,765 E. coli isolates purified directly from urine samples were collected from patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs). After collection, the samples were tested by infrared microscopy and analyzed by machine learning. We achieved success rates of âˆ¼ 96% in isolate level identification and âˆ¼ 84% in susceptibility determination.